


Fans Of The Old Republic

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fans & Fandom, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Ben and Poe are KOTOR Fans, Fandom Allusions & Cliches & References, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Metafiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24753763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: Ben Solo’s first year in college — as he bonds with his roommate and fellow KOTOR fan Poe Dameron.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Fans Of The Old Republic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [slinden](https://archiveofourown.org/users/slinden/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: For slinden, who needed this. I hope it’s soft enough, you know?

Orientation was boring. Ben wasn’t going to lie. Even trying to stay awake while taking notes, he tried to focus on anything besides the droning voice of the man who’d been called on to supervise orientation. He supposed it was necessary, but...

At least the young Latino man sitting across from him seemed to be just as done as Ben was. The young man looked over at him, winked reassuringly, and Ben couldn’t help but feel, at least, like he had made an ally here. 

It was a relief when Ben could head up to his dorm. He couldn’t help but wonder, long before he heard the footsteps coming up the stairs, who would be his roommate here. 

***

”I don’t mean to bother you, but I really like your shirt.”

It was the young man from earlier, curly haired and with a winning smile that made Ben’s heart skip a beat just looking at him. It said volumes about how Ben’s brain had gone on holiday when he had to realize for a while that the young man in question was talking about the _Knights of the Old Republic_ shirt that Ben had chosen as a sort of good luck charm when he’d headed up to Coruscant University. 

”What? Oh. Thanks.” Ben tried to smile; he wondered how much of his smile was unintentionally scary. “Yeah, I’m a KOTOR fan. You?”

”Yeah. I’m Poe, by the way. We’re roommates.”

”Well, good," Ben said. “I mean...good to have an ally in this weird place."

Poe laughed — a sound that Ben couldn’t say he minded at all. “It’s not that bad. Way I see it, it’s like an adventure.”

”You’ll have to teach me your ways.” Ben was only half-joking, of course. How exactly was this man so confident and cheerful?

”I might!” Poe said. "I guess we’ll unpack your stuff and...we can talk about KOTOR.”

Even as they unpacked their own things, Ben making sure his promotional poster of Darth Malak ominously glaring at everyone was on his claimed side of the room, Poe said, “You a Malak fan?”

”I think he’s interesting," Ben said. “I mean...” He sighed. “He had a tough life. Coming from Quelli, where...y’know, the Mandalorians bombed his home. Being tortured. Thinking he was doing the right thing and falling to the Dark Side for it.” A beat. “And it’s not like Revan’s innocent in this either; I mean, he was the one who decided, ‘Hey, Mal; this Star Forge thing sounds like a great idea’. Malak was trying to talk him out of it. You know, like a sensible person would.”

”You sound like you thought this through,” Poe said. 

Ben sighed. “Yeah, well, running into Malak antis kind of hones your skills a bit...”

”Oh. Condolences.”

”Thanks. I mean, they think he’s stupid and deserves to be squashed like a bug, and yeah, what he did to Taris was awful, but...he didn’t start out a monster. I mean, those assholes are so lucky they’ve never been tortured before. Um, sorry about the swearing.”

Poe shrugged. “No, I agree. I don’t like the people claiming people like Vrook and Zhar abused him — ”

“Can we agree that Vrook’s a killjoy?”

Poe laughed. Ben decided that he’d do anything to get that sort of sound out of Poe again. “I think that’s universal. I mean, thinking training Metani that Revan’s gonna come back? There’s paranoid and then there’s this.”

Metani was the main character of KOTOR — an amnesiac smuggler of twenty-six, who’d won acclaim from many critics. Some were shipping her with Carth, the pilot, though personally, Ben was shipping her with Bastila Shan, the Jedi. Not out of any crude reason, but because of the fact it seemed so obvious. There had been something almost like pulling someone’s pigtails when Metani teased Bastila, and Bastila was clearly protective of her. 

Then again, Malak definitely seemed fascinated with Bastila. And Bastila seemed to have a girl crush on Malak’s deceased Master, Revan. But yes, Metani and Bastila seemed to have the most chemistry together. 

”But yeah, I get you,” Poe said. “He’s complex. No idea if I’d ship him with anyone, but...”

”I don’t really ship him with anyone but the girl in his flashbacks,” Ben said. “The white-haired one. She seemed really important to him.”

”Right. So...you write fanfiction?”

”Yeah. Is that weird?”

Poe shook his head. “By that logic, I’m weird because I read it and write it. I'm actually writing a Malak redemption arc. I just think it’ll be interesting, y’know? How do you come back from what you’ve done?”

”I’d love to read it.” Ben said. 

”Uh, one thing. How do you feel about Malak/Bastila?”

”Huh. Interesting,” Ben said. “He did seem a bit...obsessed with her. I mean, it was probably because of her Battle Meditation, but still...”

”Well, he still has a bit of a one-track mind about her.” A beat. “Fuck, I wish I could do his voice. But he’s like ‘Bastila Bastila Bastila’ just about all the time...”

Ben laughed. It was nice, he thought, talking to someone about an opposing ship and it not devolving into a metaphorical bloodbath. 

”Kidding aside, I can’t decide between Metani/Bastila and Malak/Bastila. I mean, Metani/Bastila’s got a lot of chemistry, and Malak/Bastila...they’ve got potential.”

”Yeah.”

They put up the rest of their posters and books and whatnot, and Ben said, “So, what are you majoring in?”

”Creative writing. Definitely. Fanfiction’s really just practice.”

”Nice,” Ben said. “Same here.” A beat. “We might be in the same classes. Like I said, good to have an ally here."

***

Poe actually sent him the link to the fanfiction that he’d written — under the username of BlackLeader — through one of his texts. Even reading through it — so far, there were five chapters, and it was about Malak’s redemption arc, starting when he was stranded with the Ebon Hawk crew after being separated from Saul Karath and the others. It was interesting, especially since Malak was still in-character and didn’t seem to realize that his order to destroy Taris was a bad thing. 

” _You seem remarkably sentimental regarding a planet that discriminated against you for your species, young one.” Malak said. “Dare I say it, the galaxy is better off for not having Taris there.”_

_”How can you say that?” Mission exclaimed. “It was my home! It’s not like you know what it’s like to have your home destroyed...”_

_(Fire. So much fire. Fire and ships and shouts of Mandalorian...)_

_”You don’t know anything about me, young one,” Malak said. He couldn’t help but hate her. True, she was fourteen, but it wasn’t the fact she’d said what she did as much as the fact that she brought up memories that Malak wanted to forget. A boy with shaggy black hair and two best friends and people who cared about him. “I’ll stand watch."_  
  
Still, even as he stood watch, looking out for wildlife, Malak wondered (despite the fact it seemed ridiculous) if he really had become no better than the Mandalorians he’d fought. 

That was part of the most recent chapter. Even commenting on it and gushing over it, Ben couldn’t help but feel like it really was perfect. He paused; somehow, doing the review was like revealing too much of himself. But he posted it anyway. 

Poe’s response, that smile that seemed to light up his face, was definitely worth it. 


End file.
